On our recent mini break to a Farm on the Fynboss Estate, surrounded by massive oak trees, the weird and wonderful sounds that birds make and of course the sound of silence. A thought popped up:
“Why is my windscreen so clean? Where are all the bugs?”
Do you remember going on road trips and there were bugs all over the front of the car and windscreen upon arriving at your destination? All the pretty butterflies that got smooshed?
Our windscreen had maybe 4 smooshed bugs. That is ALARMING!
Where are all the bugs?
We have been sitting with this thought since and have come across some interesting articles in our search for an explanation.
The internet can be quite overwhelming and frankly depressing down the rabbit hole.
But sometimes we need a bit of an eye-opener.
Most of us are aware of many things but don’t necessarily consider them in-depth or try for a while and then return to normal life because it is easier and hassle-free.
This interview opened our eyes to dig a bit deeper:
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2022/02/24/1082752634/the-insect-crisis-oliver-milman
We are by no means saints, I think that in today’s world, it is impossible to achieve, but we have gained immense respect for trees & the natural world that surrounds them. The natural world needs them. Bugs are part of that natural world, the bottom of the food chain, however gross or annoying they may be, they serve a HUGE purpose. Gosh, the mosquitoes in summer! ARGH!! We don't like them but other little critters do.
Cockroaches, are you kidding me??? YUCK! We need them to help break down waste. OUR waste.
We found an educational resource on National Geographic and this stood out:
“It’s hard to know how many species are going extinct because the total number of species is unknown. Scientists discover thousands of new species every year. For example, after looking at just 19 trees in Panama, scientists found 1,200 different species of beetles—80 percent of them unknown to science at the time. Based on various estimates of the number of species on Earth, we could be losing anywhere from 200 to 100,000 species each year.”
https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/conserving-earth/
What a scary thought, and that is just on the little bugs that we think don't matter. They do!
Reducing the demand for cheap things that don’t last will help sustain the wild things we share this planet with. We REALLY NEED all the little BUGgers.
We don’t need to cut down more trees, there is ENOUGH stuff in the world.